Both Sides Are Even
by GreyGirl2008
Summary: My take on what should have happened after 7x13. Mark and Lexie should have found a way to work it out, and that's where I come in. The title comes from the song that played during that heartbreaking scene.
1. Chapter 1

**I realize that it has been awhile since I have updated "What Is" or "Fighting" but, I have been suffering from severe writer's block on both. So I decided to start another story and see how it goes. This one takes place after Mark tells Lexie that Callie is pregnant. I hated how that storyline went and I thought I would put my own Slexie twist on it. Plus, it is the first of my stories that will feature Sofia. Yay! I hope you enjoy. Let me know if I should continue or cast this story into the wind. Thanks!  
**

"I'm putting in tarragon." Lexie stated as she stirred the contents in the pot in front of her. "Not that I have any idea what tarragon tastes like, but I think when people use tarragon it makes them seem like they know what they're doing."

Mark fidgeted with his watch, hands in his lap as he sat at the bar, his breathing increasing. He knew he had to tell her and he knew he had to tell her now. Callie was right.

"Basil can't do that." She continued, causing him to smirk. "Anynody can sling some basil around the kitchen."

"Callie's pregnant." Mark blurted.

"Oh, my god." She reacted trying not to spit out the food she just sampled. "That's great! She loves babies!"

Mark nodded in agreement.

"Did they do a turkey baster thing or something? I mean...wait a minute so, wait...Arizona just got back and they...wait was this before they-"

Lexie looked at Mark. His expression read louder than any possible words could. Slowly, he could see it adding up in her head and the realization began to hit.

"I saw the heartbeat today." He said, simply. "This is my kid. This is a part of me." He paused, watching as she fiddled with some napkins, clearly upset. "Please, is there any way that we can-"

"How the hell...did you get me in this position...twice!" She emphasized, slamming her hand on the counter. "It...unbelievable. You are unbelievable!"

With that, Lexie had grabbed her coat and stormed past Mark and out the apartment door. As the door closed, a piece of her heart broke. She walked down the hall and pressed the button for the elevator. Once she stepped inside, she pressed "L" for the lobby and slowly sunk to the ground in tears. Twice. This had happened twice. Her brain became riddled with questions. When did he sleep with her? Did he just assume she would be on board this time? Was this planned or was it just a night of passion gone too far? The more she thought about it, the more it hurt.

Meanwhile, inside the apartment, Mark tossed out the now wasted dinner that Lexie had prepared. He couldn't eat, not after the way everything happened. He knew it wasn't ideal and he wasn't so stupid as to think that this didn't hurt her, but he couldn't turn his back on his best friend or their child. His child. He didn't want to be the same guy he was with Sloan, the guy who tosses some money her way and tells her to 'take care of it'. What was he supposed to do? He picked up the phone and began dialing, before shaking her head and placing the phone back in the cradle. There was no way she was going to answer him and she wasn't going to return his call if he left a message. After a couple minutes, he grabbed his coat and stormed out of the apartment.

"What are you doing back so early?" Meredith asked, emerging from the kitchen. "I thought you were having dinner with Mark?"

"I don't wanna talk about it!" Lexie yelled as she stormed up the stairs.

"Oh." Meredith replied, more to herself, turning around and returning to the kitchen.

"What was that?" Derek asked, looking up from the Chinese food they had ordered.

"I have no clue." She answered. "Should I go talk to her?"

"Give her some time. Let her cool off." He suggested, pulling out the fortune cookies. "Story of Mark and Lexie."

"Tell me about it." She chuckled as Derek's phone began to ring.

Derek groaned in response. "I'll be right back." He kissed her on the cheek as he walked over to grab her phone.

"Shepherd." He answered. "Mark...whoa, slow down." Meredith turned to look at him, confusion all over her face. "Okay...okay. Yes, we are. Okay...I understand."

"What the hell?" Meredith asked as he hung up.

"Mark." He replied, walking over and taking his seat. "He screwed up...bad and he wants to come over and try and talk to Lexie."

"And you said yes?"

"What was I supposed to do? You're here. I'm here. She has backup if she decides she wants him gone. The least I can do is open the front door for him."

"Okay." She sighed, defeated. "Wait...what did he do?"

"He told Lexie that Callie's pregnant."

"Callie's preg- Wait...Mark knocked her up, didn't he?" She grew angry. "That smug son of a bitch."

"It happened before they got back together." He explained. "He's really beating himself up over this, Meredith."

"If I hear Lexie yell for him to leave one time, I swear, I will throw him out on his ass. Understood?"

"Understood." He smiled as she leaned in and kissed him.

About fifteen minutes later, Mark knocked on the glass door.

"Come in." Derek called.

"Is she here?" He looked frantic.

"In her attic." He stated.

"Thanks." He bounded up the stairs. He arrived outside her door and stood there for a couple minutes, thinking. He had no game plan, other than telling her how he felt. And slowly, he raised his fist and tapped.

"I said I don't wanna talk about it, Mer." He heard from the other side. Slowly he turned the knob and pushed the door open. Lexie was buried in her comforter, sobbing, her back to the door.

"Please, just go away, Meredith." She said, turning over. "Oh." She froze.

"Hear me out, please." He begged.

"Go home, Mark." She sat up. "I don't wanna talk right now."

"Lex-"

"No." She interrupted. "I already know everything you wanna say."

"You do?"

"'I never meant to hurt you. Is there any way we can work this out? I love you, Lexie. I need you.' Am I close?"

"Lexie, please."

"Just go. Seriously." She laid back down. "I really don't care if we talk or not."

"You don't mean that." He was heartbroken.

"Actually, Mark. Right now, I do."

He nodded and hesitantly turned around, exiting the room and trudging down the stairs.

"Mark?" Derek asked, when he saw his friend emerge.

"It's over, man." He shook his head. "It's just done."

"Mark."

"I'll see you at work tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." He answered sympathetically.

**I didn't want Lexie to give into his attempts so quickly as getting another woman pregnant is a huge and bitter pill to swallow. It's gonna take time. Anyway, if you guys think I should continue, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts. I am thinking of bringing "What Is and What Could Have Been" to a close soon and I will update the other ASAP as well. Read and review! It makes me smile! XOXO**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! That is really all I can say. I am so shocked and surprised by the reception that this story has gotten. Really makes me smile. Of course I will continue this, since so many are interested. Chapters on my other storiew will be uploaded as soon as I can find the flash drive I saved them on. Until then, please enjoy this next installment. **

"Okay, so three injections over the next twelve hours at four hour intervals." Lexie explained.

"Uh, Dr. Grey I'm aware. Mrs. Kowalski has been my patient for the last six months." Eli replied.

She shook her head. "Sorry. You're right."

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" She snapped back. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

She handed him the chart, shoved her pen in her pocket and walked to the residents' locker room. It had been a long day filled with boring and inane tasks. She did everything from restocking the supply closets, stitches, running labs, and ended her night with a lovely bunch of discharges. She shoved her lab coat in her cubby with a heavy sigh. As tiring as her day had been, she almost preferred it to her real life. Things were in shambles and the minute she walked out of that hospital, she was going to have to face that all over again.

"Hey, Lexie." April practically ran to catch up. "I have this kid in the ER and he's allergic to the anesthisia for his stitches, any idea what-"

"Kid's Journal of Medicine. Volume 16, page 124. " She rattled off.

"Thank you!" She turned back to run inside. "Oh, and Mark was looking for you."

Lexie sighed. That was her cue to get the heck out of there. She walked to her car, fumbling through her purse for her keys. When she looked up, she felt her heart in her throat as she saw Mark leaning against her car.

"Hey." He greeted her, barely above a whisper.

"Hi."

"Can we talk?"

"I'm not really in the mood." She said, trying to unlock her door. "I just want to go home and go to sleep."

"Lex, please."

"Don't. Don't 'Lex' me, okay? You did this, not me." She stated.

"I know." He looked at the pavement.

She started to climb into the driver's seat, before she turned to face Mark. "When?"

"What?"

"When did it happen?" She asked again.

"The night that you were all working the night shift." He told her.

"And then the next morning, you came to work telling me how much you missed me?" She scoffed. "How much I loved you?"

"I meant all of it." Mark began to plead. "Every word."

"How can I believe that?"

"I love you so much. Believe in that."

"You're having a baby with Callie. I just-" She began to tear up. "Was I not enough to fight for? Or wait for?"

"No." He tried to grab her wrist, but she pulled away. "Lexie, please."

"I don't know why I'm even talking to you." She wiped away a tear before getting in her car and slowly pulling away, leaving an equally broken Mark standing in the parking lot.

"Hey. How was work?" Meredith asked.

Lexie closed the door. "Oh, it was fine until Mark cornered me in the parking lot."

"Oh." She welcomed her little sister on the couch beside her. "Are you okay?"

Lexie shook her head, trying not to cry.

"Lexie..."

"I try, Meredith. I try to be strong and stand my ground and be firm about how I feel, but..."

"What?"

"Then he speaks and suddenly it's like I can't breathe."

"I know the feeling." Meredith told her with a smirk.

"How can I love someone so deeply yet hate him so much at the same time." She sniffled.

"Look, I'm no expert on the subject, believe me. I think you guys just need time. You need to digest the news of him becoming a dad and he needs time to figure out where exactly he is going to go from here."

Lexie nodded. "I guess."

"You will figure it out, Lexie. You just have to be patient." Meredith held her hand.

"I miss him so much."

"Oh, Lexie." She pulled her into a sisterly hug.

Lexie spent the next day buried in chick flicks and Kleenex. She wasn't sure exactly what she needed, but she figured a good cry couldn't hurt. She would have to get the tears out eventually. She liked having the entire day off and no one home with her; it gave her a sense of peace and tranquility. She was halfway through The Notebook when her phone began to vibrate. She reached over to her nightstand, grabbed her iPhone and looked at the screen. Mark. She dragged the ignore button and placed the phone back down. A few seconds later it began to vibrate again. She was not in the mood to play this game.

She dragged the accept button. "Hello?"

"Hi." He answered, sounding surprised that she had picked up. "Hi, I wasn't expecting you to answer."

"Would you prefer I hang up so you can talk to my voicemail?"

"No...no. This is great." Mark stumbled over his words. "What...are you doing, tonight?"

"I've got a long overdue date with Channing Tatum and some takeout." She said in a monotone voice.

"Huh?"

"I'm just watching movies."

"I was hoping we could talk about things."

"Mark..." Lexie tried.

"Five minutes. That's all I ask." Mark cut in. "I promise, I won't get in the way of your time with Chansing Tatum."

She giggled. "It's Channing."

"Is that a yes?"

"Five minutes."

Mark was nervous. He couldn't remember feeling anything like this since the first time he and Lexie hooked up and his hotel. There was just something about her that brought out the giddy high school boy in him. He pulled up outside Meredith's and rubbed his sweatly palms on his jeans as he walked to the door. He rang the doorbell and heard a voice from inside. "Come on up!" He opened the attic door to find Lexie buried in blankets, propped up with a pint of ice cream in her hand, a package of Oreos on the bedside table and a package of peanut butter cups next to her. He couldn't help but smirk at how adorable he found her when started to stress eat.

"Wow."

"Don't judge me." She said through a mouth full of Cherry Garcia.

"So..." He sat on a small chair next to the bed. "I wanted to talk about..."

"Go ahead." Lexie answered, never looking away from the screen.

Noah was pouring his heart out to Allie in The Notebook:  
"I want you. All of you. Forever. You and me. Everyday."

"Awww." Lexie whined.

Mark scoffed and grabbed the remote, shutting off the tv. "Can you not focus on Channing Tatum and listen to me?"

"It's Ryan Gosling."

"Whatever!" He raised his voice, causing her to widen her eyes and put the ice cream down.

"Sorry. Go ahead."

"Look." He began. "Callie is pregnant."

She began to look away.

"I know this isn't what either of us planned." He continued. "I wanted this to be with you. I wanted you."

"But you didn't wait for me, Mark!"

"Lexie, I want you here. I want to do this with you, by my side." He begged. "I need you, because...I don't know any other way to do this whole thing right."

"Mark, I don't need this responsibility." She sat up on the side of her bed. "And the one thing you seem to keep forgetting is that I'm not ready."

He looked at the floor.

"You're ready to be a father." She smiled. "That's great and I am so happy for you. But I'm not ready to be a stepmother. I can't do this right now."

"Lex."

"No." She stood up and walked to the attic door. "I'm going to go and get some water and I'd like it if you were gone by the time I got back."

"Lexie, please."

"Tell Callie I said 'Congratulations'." And with that she was gone.

"Damn it!" He cursed, throwing a pillow across the room.

The next day, Lexie asked Derek to assign her to Neuro for the rest of the week. She was beginning to enjoy Neurosurgery and she couldn't bear the thought of possibly being assigned to Plastics. She was standing at the nurses' station, making last minute notes in a chart.

"Have you finished prepping Mr. Carson?" Derek asked, chewing on a granola bar.

"Yes, he is prepped and ready." She confirmed.

"Okay, great. Finish up the rest of these charts and then you can scrub in if you have the time." He said, turning to walk away.

"If I have the time?" Lexie asked. "I thought you needed a hand."

"I have Nelson scrubbing in." He answered. "Grey, I really need those charts finished."

She felt like someone sucker punched her in the gut. The OR was the one place she could escape. She found a nearby on-call room and slipped inside, hoping to finish her charting as quickly as possible.

"Oh." She said upon noticing who else was charting inside. "Sorry. I'll find somewhere else."

"It's fine." Callie answered. "It's a large enough room. I think we can share."

She awkwardly sat down on the closest bed to the door.

"So how are you?" Callie asked.

Lexie just shrugged.

"Mark said he told you about the baby." She looked to Lexie for a response and received nothing. "He said you walked out...I can't blame you. If Arizona was having another man's baby, I might lose it, too."

"I really don't feel like talking about this right now." Lexie said, not looking up.

"I just want you to know that it was completely unplanned." Callie defended. "I am so incredibly sorry that you and Arizona were hurt, but I can't help but be happy about this pregnancy."

"And I can't help but hate that it happened." Lexie blurted. "I'm sorry. I appreciate all that you're saying, I do."

Callie just looked down.

"It was supposed to be me, Callie, and you got there first." Lexie sighed. "Maybe I'm more jealous of you than I am mad at you."

"I understand."

Lexie paused. "I think I'm gonna go find another room to chart in."

"No, Lexie."

"It's okay, really." She said, closing the door behind her.

Her feelings were finally coming to light and she hated it. If she said yes to Mark, if she tried to make it work, how was she going to fit in to this child's life? How was she supposed to be a parent to a child she didn't help make? Three moms and one dad? It was enough to make anyone's head explode and she felt like her's just might.


End file.
